6 week old chick intro after -1 roo

[NatalieP]

Hello! Today we rehomed our 6 week old roo. He was pretty aggresive with the other chicks and would chase the others at random. Now that he is gone, we're planning on adding in our recovered sick chick (she's still half the size of the rest) and moving them all outside (now a total of 5 chicks). There is still 1 bully in the group (guessing it's just the top hen).

Is it better to let the remaining chicks adjust to the lack of one chick or should we bring in the recovered chick right away? Should we put them all outside the same day or wait until the order re-balances in the home brooder?

 

[NatJ]

I suggest you make all the changes at once--put them outside, small one and bigger ones together. That way, the big chicks have to think about being in a new place AND about how their pecking order changed when the biggest bully left AND about the little chick, rather than being able to focus purely on putting the little one in her place (i.e. all trying to prove at the same time that they are bigger and tougher than she is.)

By the time they are used to being outside, and used to having the one chick gone, they will also be used to having the little chick as part of the group.

Of course, watch them for a bit, to make sure it all goes OK.

 

[NatalieP]

I suggest you make all the changes at once--put them outside, small one and bigger ones together. That way, the big chicks have to think about being in a new place AND about how their pecking order changed when the biggest bully left AND about the little chick, rather than being able to focus purely on putting the little one in her place (i.e. all trying to prove at the same time that they are bigger and tougher than she is.)

By the time they are used to being outside, and used to having the one chick gone, they will also be used to having the little chick as part of the group.

Of course, watch them for a bit, to make sure it all goes OK.

Thank you soo much for your response!!